Another contractor pleads guilty in Kensington Heights case

Just a day after his brother admitted his guilt, former asbestos contractor Rai Johnson took a plea deal as well.

Johnson, a supervisor at Johnson Contracting of Western New York, pleaded guilty Thursday to violating the federal Clean Air Act while his company was working at the Kensington Heights public housing complex on Fillmore Avenue in 2009.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango said Johnson will face up to 30 months in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Johnson Contracting, which included Ernest Johnson, who pleaded guilty Wednesday, was accused of orchestrating a scheme designed to cut corners at Kensington Heights and then cover it up.

Rai Johnson’s plea deal means three defendants in the case, each of them government inspectors, will go on trial in two weeks.